I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time
by Carlo Santos
Summary: What makes the world go 'round? Answers are given in this one-shot AAML songfic based on Mariah Carey's new single, also featuring guest appearances from prettygirl17, Evan AAML, and AshK and also marking my 10th anniversary as a Pokémon trainer and fan.


_**Opening Author's Notes**  
No, I'm not dead, or else I wouldn't be coming with this! I've been fighting off a severe case of writer's block since I misplaced my laptop on a train in China a few weeks ago, but I haven't abandoned any of my works by a long shot!  
Before the summer, I was trying to contact prettygirl17 (Alexi), AshK (Steven), and Evan AAML about a new collaborative AAML songfic series, and I still want to go through with that, guys_—_It's my fault I haven't been able to send you guys more details, but I'll find time to get them to you guys. Just two days ago, I recognized that this Christmas Eve will mark my tenth anniversary as a Pokémon trainer and fan (my mother gave me Red as a Christmas present in 1998) and heard Mariah Carey's new single on the radio and decided to make a one-shot songfic based on it as a way of making it up to my colleagues and friends, as a celebration of 10 years as a Pokémon trainer and fan, and as a way to commemorate some recent events in my life. Hope you enjoy it!  
One more thing_—_the storyline here is independent of my major Pokémon project, In The Club: Cerulean City United's First Season.  
_

* * *

It was a warm July evening when I left the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan and hit New York feeling as I had only started feeling again recently: like a boss.  
Just recently, I had snapped out of a funk thanks to a summer study abroad session in China. I had still been a terrific trainer, but my schoolwork hadn't been going nearly as well as I'd have liked, and over there, I had rediscovered my passion for learning and had grown stronger as a student, trainer, and person. Not only that, but I felt driven even more to continue my resurgence because I had spent a lot of time with a girl from our group in Beijing and we both had enjoyed it thoroughly and I knew once we left the country that I not only had a real crush, but also a real crush who very possibly liked me back!

After several weeks at home in Clemmons, North Carolina, I was set to rejoin Team USA, which I was one of the tri-captains of, ahead of a tri-series with Greece and South Korea at Yankee Stadium that was one of our last warm-ups before the World Cup in Beijing, where we were amazingly the defending champions, having upset Japan for the inaugural title in Athens four years earlier. Pokémon battling is not yet an Olympic sport, but we had a growing partnership with the IOC and the Olympic movement. In 2000, in Sydney, the tour championship had been held right next to the Summer Games, and in 2004, one day was set aside for the athletes to rest while the inaugural World Cup was staged in Athens—a practice that was going to continue in Beijing.

Before then, I was heading out to meet back up with three teammates—Evan Hanauer of upstate Utica, Steven Schatsiek of Peoria, IL, and Alexi Moore of Hayden, ID. Together, the four of us were the country's four top trainers (Evan and Steven were the other two tri-captains) and also the main reason that we had come home from Athens with the World Cup, not to mention terrific friends. After meeting them at Rockefeller Center, we headed to the nearby subway station to head over to Times Square, where we were going to have our night out. As we got on the train, I finished telling them the story I had started at Rockefeller Center about how I had rediscovered myself and about how I was even more driven than before thanks to my potential first girlfriend.

"I'm really happy that that happened to you, 'cause you know what they say—love makes the world go 'round." Alexi said with a grin as we sped along towards Times Square.  
"I actually disagree...but not too much." I said, adding the last part as I saw Alexi's almost scandalized expression. "On a college application essay, I said that pain makes the world go around, and I still believe that—there's a price to be paid for everything in this world—but when you're in love with someone, it feels like nothing—like you're invincible, you know what I'm sayin'?"  
"Yeah." Evan said. "You guys know it's been a lot easier for me to juggle school and being a trainer since I started being serious with Stephanie—and I think that's why. I know there's a price to be paid for everything, like you said, but when you're in love, it feels like every price is a small price to pay."  
"Oh, yeah." Steven said. "I never thought of it that way, but I hear you—I've seen it too often to not know what you're talking about."  
"Like I said, I'm not disagreeing with it outright—it's just another angle I've taken." I told Alexi quickly.  
"Don't worry about it—you're not making me mad." Alexi replied, giving me a reassuring grin that I returned as we pulled into the Times Square station.

We were going to start our outing at the Virgin Megastore, which was across the street from where we were, so we moved as if to cross the square and were next to the NYPD Times Square station when a cinematic-style video clip started playing on the NBC/Panasonic Astrovision big screen and made us stop.  
"Oh, check it out!" Alexi said, pointing. "It's Misty's new music video!"  
"I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time?" I asked, listening closely. Once my suspicions were confirmed, I said with a grin, "Yep, that's it! It's got Ash in it too, right?"  
"Oh, yeah." Evan said with a grin of his own. "People have been saying it's her 'sexiest' yet, too."  
"Yeah—sexy in a non-trashy way." Steven said. "You know, the kind of sexy you like to see every day."  
"Darn right!" The rest of us said together before I asked, "You guys wanna stop and watch this too?"  
"Yeah!" They replied, and so we turned to the Astrovision screen with grins on our faces.

As we watched, Misty Waterflower—who not a soul didn't know by then as as beautiful both inside and out as she was talented, as she had established herself as a stellar Cerulean Gym co-leader, Team Japan co-captain, singer, actress, and model—came into view. She was wearing a white bikini with a strapless top and was walking down what I would later learn was a Los Angeles beach at sunset as she started the opening ad-lib:

_I'll be lovin', I'll be lovin', I'll be lovin', I'll be lovin'  
I'll be lovin', I'll be lovin', I'll be lovin' you  
I'll be lovin', I'll be lovin', I'll be lovin', I'll be lovin'  
I'll be lovin', I'll be lovin', I'll be lovin' you_

As the first verse started, the camera started switching between shots of her on the beach and then walking along a LA oceanside street wearing open-toes, a black miniskirt, and a blue tube top. She had her eyes closed most of the time, but every now and then she'd open them, smile, and give the camera the look she reserved for Ash as she sang,

_You ain't even gotta worry  
About a thing_—_I gotcha, babe  
And ain't nobody takin' me away  
It's not a game_—_I'm here to stay  
See, our love is stronger than any drug  
Addictive just can't get enough  
And every time I'm with you, I want some more  
Just close the door and let's explore each other_

"Wow, this is turning out to be a terrific one so far!" Evan said earnestly.  
"No kidding!" Steven and I said together as the first chorus started:

_Long as I know you got me  
I'll be lovin' you long time (As I can breathe)  
I'll be lovin' you long time (Eternally)  
There's no stopping you and me  
I'll be lovin' you long time (As I can breathe)  
I'll be lovin' you long time (Eternally)_

As the second verse started, Misty's fiancée, Ash Ketchum, the superstar Japanese League champion and the other Team Japan co-captain, came into view. On the beach, he was wearing sneakers, white wind pants, and a blue T-shirt as he draped his arm over her shoulder, and on the street, he was wearing dress shoes, khakis, and a black button-up polo as he held the door open for her at a restaurant, both times, as it goes without saying, with a loving smile on his face as Misty continued to sing,

_Don't care what no one has to say  
They don't understand us like we do  
I need you near me night and day  
Together, there ain't nothin' we can't do  
Scoop me up and we can go  
To that little spot where no one knows  
Spend a little time, just us alone  
You can caress my body and never let go_

"Man, I knew they had it all right when they hooked up, but I can't believe it's been five years already!" Steven said in pleasant disbelief.  
"I know!" I said. "That said, I didn't know if it was possible for them to look any better together, but that's what's happening!"  
The others nodded, and we fell silent again for the chorus:

_Long as I know you got me  
I'll be lovin' you long time (As I can breathe)  
I'll be lovin' you long time (Eternally)  
There's no stopping you and me  
I'll be lovin' you long time (As I can breathe)  
I'll be lovin' you long time (Eternally)_

"Check this part out—I think it's the best one." Alexi said.  
I watched and listened a little more attentively as the only bridge rolled around. This time, the beach shot and city shot that got alternated between were, respectively, the two of them cuddling up in a hammock and then the two of them in the restaurant where Misty was caressing Ash's cheek and he was smiling as he handed her a note that read, "Have I ever told you that I don't deserve a love like yours?" All the while, she sang,

_Don't want another, ain't gon' never be another  
Can't nobody do what you do to me  
Don't want another, ain't gon' never be another  
Can't nobody do what you do to me  
Don't want another, ain't gon' never be another  
Can't nobody do what you do to me  
__I'll be lovin' you long time (As I can breathe)  
I'll be lovin' you long time (Eternally)_

"I can really see what you mean there." I told Alexi fervently. "That was crazy!"  
"Oh, yeah." Evan said, and Steven nodded. "Hey, check it out—here's the big finish."

_Long as I know you got me  
I'll be lovin' you long time (As I can breathe)  
I'll be lovin' you long time (Eternally)  
There's no stopping you and me  
I'll be lovin' you long time (As I can breathe)  
I'll be lovin' you long time (Eternally)_

As it finished, Evan clapped and the rest of us were quick to join in.  
"Did you really like it?" A woman's voice asked behind us. We turned around to see a woman with an orange-red bob cut and a black outfit consisting of platform shoes, a short skirt, and a tank top with a white shirt under it.  
"Yeah." I said, as all four of us nodded. "Funny thing is we were just talking about what makes the world go 'round—love or pain."  
"I really like that video too because it answers that question." She said with a smile. "I think it says dedication makes the world go 'round—and you're partially right because it makes love possible and allows you to take the pain you need to suffer in order to grow."

"I didn't think about it that way, but I gotta say that's dead-on." I said. I then turned around and took a peek at the Astrovision screen before I turned back to her and said, "I tell you, it's a good thing that they're playing it here in Times Square, because that's where you're bound to get the biggest audience possible for that message!"  
"Yeah." She said. "That's a big reason why I wrote that song, made the video, and then asked them to play it here as a favor."  
"What?" I asked, now perplexed.  
"What're you talkin' about?" Evan and Steven asked together.  
The woman simply removed her shades and tucked them away into a case that she slid into a pocket as she smiled. All four of us gasped, for the gentle ocean blue-sea green eyes they revealed let us know that we had unwittingly been speaking with the woman on the big screen just a minute beforehand!

**"Misty?"** I asked, thunderstruck.  
"What's up, Carlo?" She asked with a smile, and we shared a quick hug before she hugged each of the others and then told us, "Hi, Evan! Hi, Steven! Hi, Alexi! Sorry for startling you like this! This is just something I like to do every so often—cutting my hair a little differently and wearing shades and then taking them off if I want to pop up somewhere."  
"Don't worry—we're just glad to meet you again over here!" Evan said. "What're you doing in NYC?"  
"Well, Ash and I are here to relax and see this city for the first time, but we're also here to see what we have to do to top you guys in Beijing." She said honestly.  
"Is that right?" Alexi asked, clearly unsettled as we were by that last comment. "We never go to Japan to spy on you guys, so why are you doing this?"  
"I'm just kidding—we're also here to watch you guys as friends." Misty said with a smile.  
"You mentioned Ash...where is he?" Steven asked eagerly. "Is he also here in Times Square?"  
"Yeah, I'm treating him to dinner at one of the steakhouses around here." She said. "We might be about an hour, so you guys can go wherever you were going and then I'll call you guys and ask if you want to hang out with us." She replied, still smiling.  
"I think I speak for all of us when I say we'd love that." I said, making the others nod.  
So we headed off to the Virgin Megastore while Misty headed to dinner with Ash. What happened after that is another story for another time, but it's safe to say that the discussion that was started at Rockefeller Center was settled once and for all that night as we heard more of the story.

* * *

_**Closing Author's Notes**  
Enjoy it? I really hope so. You know the rules_—_please read and review, but please do not flame me if you're not into AAML or Pokéshipping._


End file.
